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Aug 17, 2010

As a computer programmer, I use computer keyboards pretty much anytime when I'm awake. And it's absolutely blowing my mind that there is no perfect keyboard for what I want out there.

A standard 101(or 104, or whatever) keyboard takes up too much desk space and not so much ergonomic-friendly. You really want your G and H keys in the middle so that you can type the keyboard without weirdly tilting or bending your body. At the same time, you don't wanna stretch too far right to grab and move mouse. But, can you do it with a standard 101 keyboard? Not really. If you center align your G and H keys, your keyboard sticks out to much to the right because of those arrow keys, home/insert/pageup-n-down keys and keypad.

Can I live without these arrow keys and pageup/down keys? No. These are the keys I use all the time, so I need'em. What about numeric keys on numpad? Oh yeah. I don't really use them. So if I can find a keyboard without the numpad, probably I can be ergonomically happy.

So is there any keyboard out there offering this simple demand? Not really. Most of keyboards without the numpad have one(or more) of these problems:

the size of key is smaller than standard (84 mm, I believe)

the layout of keyboard, especially arrow keys and pageup/down, is different from the standard.

they are wireless.

The only keyboards that do not have the above problems are Microsoft Sidewinder X6 and HP Modular USB Spanish Keyboard Assy. The HP keyboard is Spanish, so it's out of question. And Sidewinder X6 is like $60 because it's branded as a gaming keyboard with lots of macro keys and not-so-useful functionalities for me.

Seriously... Can I just have a full-size keyboard with standard layout minus the numpad.. Am I asking too much?